NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti saga continues -- delayed to mid-May?

Posted on Thursday, March 25 2021 @ 10:06 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
NVIDIA logo
At this point, we're no longer keeping track of how many times the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has been rumored to be ready for a launch. Up until a couple of days ago, the expectation was that the card would be released in April but now news hits the wire about an internal NVIDIA memo about a delay.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delayed to May

GPU roadmaps change often, especially in these difficult times. The specifications of the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti have also changed several times already, with the latest indication being that it will be a GA102 based card with 10240 CUDA cores, 384-bit memory bus, and 12GB GDDR6X memory. Last year, initial rumors pointed to a 20GB model, this later got revised to 16GB and the final specifications seem to be 12GB.

Citing a leaked NVIDIA memo, VideoCardz writes the GPU designer is now aiming at a launch in the Mid-May timeframe. That's one month later than what was previously whispered.

Unless the RTX 3070 Ti also faces a delay, this means we'll see two new Ampere-based cards in May:
NVIDIA has now two cards scheduled to launch in May: RTX 3080 Ti 12GB and RTX 3070 Ti 8GB. It is unclear if the manufacturer has plans to make some kind of a special announcement. Does anyone still remember ‘it’s almost TIme’ GTX 1080 Ti teaser?. Well, a special event for these two cards would definitely seem appropriate, considering they are to represent very popular market segments.
VideoCardz writes NVIDIA is unlikely to talk about these models at next month's GTC 2021 -- as this conference has never been used to introduce gaming GPUs. We may hear details about future NVIDIA GPU architectures though -- it's been a long time since NVIDIA has given an official update. It's believed the current Ampere GPU will be succeeded by Lovelace, this architecture will also be used by Nintendo's upcoming Switch refresh.

ASUS blames lower upstream yields for Ampere shortages

The GPU shortages have been going on for many months now, but it's still hard to pinpoint an exact reason why video cards are so hard to get right now. NVIDIA's financial results show the firm is shipping massive volume -- yet gamers can't find a decently priced card anywhere.

During a recent investor call, an Asus executive blamed lower upstream yields for the GPU shortages.
"Our guess is that the gap might have been caused by lower yields upstream," Asus says in the call. "As for when [Nvidia] can increase that yield is something hard for us to predict."
On the surface, the theory doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. NVIDIA's financials are what they are -- if yields of the Samsung-made 8nm Ampere GPU were really bad the company wouldn't be posting record revenue and record profit. And AMD GPUs (made by TSMC) are affected too -- so the blame can't be pinpointed exclusively at Samsung.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



Loading Comments